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AfterHow Much Does Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Cost in Orlando?
Fire and smoke damage restoration in Orlando typically costs between $3,200 and $28,000, with most residential jobs landing in the $5,000 to $12,000 range. A small kitchen fire confined to one room might run $2,800 to $4,500 for cleanup and odor removal, while a whole-home smoke event with structural repairs can push past $30,000. Your final number depends on square footage affected, how far soot traveled through your ductwork, and whether water from firefighting compounded the damage.
These are real Orlando-market numbers, not national averages. Our pricing reflects what we see week to week across Orange County, from College Park to Conway, from Winter Park to Dr. Phillips.
Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Cost Breakdown (2026)
Here’s what you’re actually paying for when a restoration crew shows up after a fire. Every line item below is a working range for residential jobs in the Orlando metro area in 2026:
| Service Line Item | Typical Orlando Cost Range | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency board-up & tarping | $400 – $1,200 | Securing broken windows, doors, and roof openings the same day |
| Soot & smoke residue cleanup (per room) | $900 – $2,800 | Walls, ceilings, trim, fixtures; varies by surface type and smoke density |
| Whole-home soot cleanup | $4,000 – $12,000 | Every room touched by smoke, including light fixtures, outlets, and door frames |
| Thermal fogging / ozone odor treatment | $600 – $2,500 | Neutralizing smoke odor in air, carpets, and porous materials |
| Duct & HVAC cleaning after smoke | $500 – $2,000 | Removing soot and particulates from your air system so they don’t recirculate |
| Structural repairs (drywall, framing, subfloor) | $1,500 – $15,000+ | Depends on burn depth, water damage from firefighting, and code requirements |
| Contents cleaning & restoration | $800 – $5,000 | Furniture, clothing, electronics, and personal items; some may need off-site treatment |
| Water extraction & drying (from firefighting) | $1,200 – $4,500 | If the fire department flooded your interior, structural drying happens before anything else |
If it feels like a wide range, that’s because fires are wildly inconsistent. A grease fire in a Baldwin Park condo kitchen might contaminate only the immediate cook area. A slow-smoldering electrical fire in a Lake Nona attic can force smoke into every closet, every duct run, and every sheet of drywall in the house.
What Drives Cost Up or Down
The single biggest variable is how far the smoke traveled. Soot from a closed-door bedroom fire that stayed contained is a one-room job. Smoke from an open-concept fire in a Thornton Park bungalow that rolled through the entire open living space means every surface in the home needs attention.
Water adds a second layer. Orlando Fire Rescue uses water aggressively, and drywall that’s been soaked through needs to be cut out and replaced, not just cleaned. That turns a $3,000 soot job into a $9,000 structural job. We see it constantly: what looked like a small fire produced a full water extraction because the ceiling cavity held the water until it dripped through every seam below.
What Affects Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Pricing in Orlando
- Type of smoke residue. Dry smoke from paper or wood is powdery and easier to remove. Wet smoke from plastics and synthetics leaves a sticky, smeary film that requires heavy scrubbing and specific solvents. Protein smoke from kitchen fires is nearly invisible but bonds to painted surfaces and requires aggressive cleaning to prevent yellowing.
- Porous vs. non-porous surfaces. Tile, glass, and sealed wood clean up fast. But drywall, acoustic ceiling texture (called “popcorn” in older Orlando homes), upholstery, and carpet fibers absorb smoke deep. The more porous square footage, the more labor hours.
- Ductwork involvement. If your HVAC ran during the fire, soot got pulled through the return and distributed through every supply vent. That means duct cleaning and possible blower assembly cleaning, which adds anywhere from $500 to $2,000 depending on system size. Homes in Orlando run HVAC year-round, which is why we check ductwork on every smoke job.
- Age of the home. Pre-1990 Orlando homes, especially in neighborhoods like Colonialtown and Delaney Park, often have plaster walls and older wiring. Plaster responds differently to smoke than drywall, and older electrical systems may need assessment after a fire. That assessment isn’t optional; it’s part of drying and restoring safely.
- Water from firefighting. This one catches homeowners off guard every time. The fire department puts the fire out with hundreds of gallons of water, and that water collects in ceilings, wall cavities, and floors. Orlando’s humidity slows natural drying, so without aggressive structural drying you get mold in 48 to 72 hours, compounding a smoke job into a mold remediation job.
- Contents volume. A minimally furnished rental unit is cheap to restore. A fully lived-in family home with two decades of textiles, books, photographs, and upholstery is labor-intensive. Hard goods get cleaned on site. Soft goods often go to an off-site content cleaning facility, which changes both the cost and the timeline.
How Restoration Works: The Step-by-Step Process
Here’s the order of operations for a typical residential fire and smoke restoration in Orlando. This is the process our team follows, and it’s the same sequence any credentialed restoration company should use:
- Emergency contact and assessment. You call, a live person answers, and we schedule a visit. The technician arrives, assesses fire type, smoke spread, water presence, and structural stability, then provides a written price before any work starts.
- Board-up and secure. Broken windows, damaged doors, and open roof penetrations get covered with plywood or tarps to prevent weather, pests, and unauthorized entry. Orlando afternoon thunderstorms make this urgent; an open roof is a water damage event waiting to happen.
- Water extraction and drying. Standing water from firefighting gets extracted. Then air movers and dehumidifiers are placed strategically. We use psychrometric readings, which measure the actual moisture content of air and building materials, to confirm when the structure is genuinely dry, not just dry to the touch.
- Soot and residue removal. Surface by surface, room by room, technicians clean walls, ceilings, floors, fixtures, and inside cabinets. Different surfaces get different treatments: dry sponges for loose soot, wet cleaning for sticky residue, abrasive methods only when the substrate can handle it.
- Odor neutralization. Cleaning removes visible soot, but odor lives in air spaces and porous materials. Thermal fogging or ozone treatment penetrates the same places the smoke did, neutralizing odor molecules rather than masking them. Duct cleaning happens at this stage if HVAC contamination is confirmed.
- Structural repairs. Compromised drywall, insulation, and framing get removed and replaced. This is the stage where smoke remediation becomes restoration: new materials, fresh paint, rebuilt surfaces.
- Contents return and final walkthrough. Cleaned and restored contents come back from the facility or out of storage. We walk the property with you, room by room, checking against scope. If anything isn’t right, it’s documented and corrected.
Every step gets documented in writing. The written guarantee is on the work order, and the free second visit is part of what you paid for, not a favor you have to ask for later.
Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Fire & Smoke Restoration in Orlando?
In nearly all cases, yes. Fire is a covered peril under standard HO-3 and HO-5 homeowner policies in Florida, which means the restoration, structural repair, and contents cleaning described above are typically covered subject to your deductible. What varies is the deductible itself: Florida homeowners increasingly carry a separate hurricane deductible, but fire claims generally apply the standard “all other perils” deductible, commonly $1,000 to $2,500 in the Orlando market.
We work directly with insurance carriers, so you don’t have to translate restoration invoices into adjuster language. We document everything with photographs, moisture readings, and itemized line items. If the adjuster has questions, we answer them. Your out-of-pocket cost is typically your deductible, not the line items above, and we’ll confirm that with your carrier before any work begins.
How to Save on Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration
- Act within the first 24 to 48 hours. Soot is acidic and begins etching surfaces immediately. Paint yellows. Metals corrode. Glass etches permanently. The faster cleanup starts, the lower the chance that cleaning turns into replacement. In Central Florida humidity, that timeline is compressed further.
- Don’t run the HVAC until it’s cleared. If the HVAC ran during the fire, shut it down immediately. Every hour it cycles, it redistributes soot into rooms that weren’t originally affected. Duct cleaning is cheaper than whole-home re-cleaning.
- Inventory contents yourself, room by room. Before the adjuster or restorer arrives, walk each room with your phone camera and film everything. Open drawers, closets, cabinets. A complete inventory reduces disputes and speeds the claim. Video is faster and more thorough than written lists.
- Get a written price before work starts. You should never sign an open-ended “time and materials” contract for fire restoration. A written, itemized estimate protects you. We provide a written price before any demolition or cleaning begins, and that’s the number we stand behind.
- Ask about the guarantee before you hire. Restoration guarantees vary wildly. Ask what happens if the odor returns in six months. Ask if there’s a cost for re-service. Our answer is printed on every work order: 365-Day Done Right Promise, free second visit included, no argument, no re-quote.
Call (850) 446-8938 for a free estimate on fire and smoke restoration in Orlando. A live person answers, day or night, and we’ll give you a straight written number.
FAQs – Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Cost
How much does fire damage restoration cost per square foot in Orlando?
Fire and smoke restoration in Orlando typically runs $4 to $10 per square foot for smoke-only jobs and $15 to $40 per square foot when structural repairs and water mitigation are included. A 1,500 square foot home with moderate smoke damage throughout would land around $6,000 to $15,000. The per-square-foot number drops as total square footage rises, because fixed costs like equipment setup and mobilization spread across a larger job. Call (850) 446-8938 for an exact quote on your square footage, free.
How much does smoke odor removal cost after a fire in Orlando?
Standalone smoke odor removal in Orlando costs between $600 and $2,500 for thermal fogging or ozone treatment in a typical single-family home. If the odor has penetrated ductwork, add $500 to $2,000 for HVAC cleaning. If odor persists after cleaning, it usually means smoke residue is trapped in insulation or behind walls, which is a repair job, not an odor job. Strong odors in a whole home after a significant fire often run $3,500 to $7,000 when you combine cleaning, fogging, and duct service.
Is it cheaper to clean smoke damage or replace everything?
Cleaning is almost always cheaper than replacement, with cleanup running $900 to $2,800 per room versus $3,000 to $8,000 per room for full replacement of drywall, flooring, and fixtures. But some materials simply don’t clean: saturated insulation, blown-in attic insulation, and heavily charred structural members get replaced rather than restored. A good restoration company tells you honestly which items are worth cleaning when the cost to clean approaches 60 to 70 percent of replacement cost.
How long does fire and smoke damage restoration take in Orlando?
A contained kitchen fire cleanup takes 3 to 5 days from start to finish. A whole-home smoke event with water mitigation and structural repair typically runs 2 to 4 weeks in Orlando, extended slightly by our humidity because materials need longer to reach a stable dry standard. Heavily damaged homes with significant rebuild components can run 6 to 12 weeks. We’ll give you a written timeline with the written price, and we hold to it.
Can I clean smoke damage myself to save money?
You can wipe visible soot off hard surfaces with dry sponges for minor smoke events, and that’s fine to do while you wait for professionals. But smoke residue is acidic and binds to surfaces in ways household cleaners can’t remove, and improper cleaning can actually drive soot deeper into porous surfaces, making professional cleanup more expensive later. For anything beyond light surface soot, trained restoration is the cheaper long-term path, not the more expensive one. Call (850) 446-8938 and we’ll talk through what you’re seeing before you buy a single cleaning product.
Does homeowners insurance cover smoke damage in Orlando?
Yes, smoke damage from a sudden, accidental fire is covered under standard Florida homeowners policies, regardless of whether the fire itself caused structural damage. Your typical out-of-pocket is your all-other-perils deductible, commonly $1,000 to $2,500 for Orlando homeowners. We work directly with your carrier and provide the photo and moisture documentation adjusters need.
Orlando Neighborhoods We Serve
Our restoration team works throughout Orange County and the surrounding metro. We’re in College Park and Delaney Park where older plaster walls need careful smoke treatment. We handle condo smoke jobs in Baldwin Park and Celebration where HOA requirements add an extra coordination layer. We’re in Waterford Lakes, MetroWest, Winter Garden, Apopka, Ocoee, Oviedo, Kissimmee, Sanford, and Lake Mary. If your home is in greater Orlando, we’re your neighbor.
Flood water in a marsh doesn’t care which neighborhood you’re in. The company name says it honestly: a marsh is low, wet ground, and water where it shouldn’t be is exactly what we handle every day. Fire adds smoke and soot to that equation, and the same drying technology and documentation standard applies.
Why the Threshold Standard Matters for Fire Restoration
Fire restoration means strangers will be in your house for days, sometimes weeks. That’s a legitimate concern, and it’s one we address directly. Before any Marsh technician arrives at your door, you receive their name and photo by text or email. When they knock, they show a photo ID badge that matches that photo. Every time.
It’s called the Threshold Verified standard, and it has five steps: background check, identity verification, name-and-photo notification before arrival, ID badge shown at the door, and a documented check-in. This isn’t a “trust us” pledge. It’s a system that tells you exactly who is coming before the knock happens. Tobias Reyner, who leads our Orlando team, applies that standard to every technician on every job, including the ones he runs himself.
Since 2005, we’ve been part of the Threshold Group family of restoration companies. The credentials behind the work are IICRC, RIA, and IFA, the restoration industry’s recognized training bodies. The equipment is Dri-Eaz, Phoenix, XPOWER, B-Air, and Injectidry, the same commercial drying and extraction gear national franchises run. The guarantee is the 365-Day Done Right Promise, printed on every work order, with a free second visit if anything isn’t right.
You’ll know the price before we start. You’ll know the people before they arrive. And you’ll know the work is guaranteed for a full year after we leave.
If you’ve had a fire, start with a phone call. (850) 446-8938. A person answers, and we’ll tell you exactly what comes next and what it costs to make your home right.
Written by Tobias Reyner, Owner at Marsh Water Damage Orlando, serving the Orlando metro since 2005. Pricing reflects the Orlando market as of 2026, based on documented residential fire and smoke restoration jobs in Orange, Seminole, and Osceola counties. Marsh Water Damage Orlando offers free estimates; call (850) 446-8938.
If you’re comparing this guide to other sources, know this: we included specific dollar ranges for the Orlando market because that’s what actually helps you plan. National averages don’t help a homeowner in Winter Park whose plaster walls need smoke treatment, and they don’t help a Windermere homeowner whose HVAC pushed soot into every room. Read more about our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Orlando services, or head back to the home page for a full look at what we do.
What Our Customers Say
"Knowing the techs were background checked was a big deal with them working in our home for days. Respectful and careful with our belongings."
- Priya S."Good job overall. Equipment noise was loud at night, but they explained why it was needed. Dried out fully and passed the final reading."
- Carla J."Pipe broke under the sink and soaked the cabinet and floor. They extracted the water, removed the wet flooring, and documented everything for the insurance."
- Judith L.